Forest fire in northeastern Ontario threatens stretch of Trans-Canada Highway

“In the northeast, those fires are happening right in the middle of cottage country,” said Chris Marchand. “There are a lot of values, a lot of lives right in the midst of a force of nature … as opposed to up here (in northwestern Ontario), where a good 50 to 70 per cent of the fires we see, we can just allow them to burn freely on the landscape.”

As it crept closer to the Trans-Canada Highway on Sunday, spokesman Shayne McCool said the flames of Parry Sound 33 also crossed a stretch of CN Rail tracks.

“That section of the fire is a top priority,” he said, though he noted that the blaze’s location near the Georgian Bay means it’s bolstered by lake effect winds that make it harder to fight.

Crews from the United States and Mexico have joined firefighters from throughout Ontario and the rest of Canada to tackle the flames. McCool said this has been a landmark year for forest fires in Ontario, mostly due to lots of lightning and precious little rain.

“When that occurs and forest fields are as dry as they are, when lightning strikes it ignites a lot easier than maybe it would when fields are more wet or damp,” he said.

Officials said nine new fires were confirmed in the northwest region by mid-afternoon Monday.

One was burning four kilometres northwest of the community of North Spirit Lake, while another was located approximately nine kilometres south of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation.

There have been 888 wildfires this year so far, compared to an annual average of 517 over the past 10 years.

The ministry said there were 39 active fires in northeastern Ontario on Monday afternoon and more than 100 in the northwest region. Of those, 44 fires were still raging out of control.

A firefighter from Alberta died on Thursday while fighting a fire near the town of Red Lake, Ont., about 100 kilometres east of the Manitoba boundary. He was identified as Jerry Gadwa, a resident of Kehewin Cree Nation.

— By Nicole Thompson in Toronto.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated the Parry Sound 33 was started by lightning.

by Canadian Press

Forest fire in northeastern Ontario threatens stretch of Trans-Canada Highway

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